As part of our trip to Lake City in late August, we also reached the summit of 14er Handies Peak via the stunning American Basin. This time, we opted to leave a bit later in the morning in our summit attempt, as the route up Handies via American Basin is a much shorter, class I

On August 17th of last week, we decided to climb Wetterhorn peak. You might be thinking…”you went to Switzerland!?” But, no in fact, we made a relatively easy 5 hour drive to the San Juan Range of Colorado and set up “camp” in Lake City, Colorado. The 14er Wetterhorn in Colorado is named after its

Distance: 11.2 miles Net elevation gain: 5,800 ft Date of summit: 6/24/17 As the day began to settle into dusk, we reached our destination for this quiet June Friday night. The dimly lit Rodeway Inn sign tiredly welcomed us to rest a few hours. Like many summer and early fall evenings before, we left the night

Miles: 12.11 (Out and Back) Min Elevation: 8,918 ft Max Elevation: 11,309 ft Total Elevation Gain: 2440 ft Net Elevation Gain: approx. 2,391 Memorial day was finally upon us this year, marking the quintessential start to summer and the brilliant array of activities that accompany this change in season. However, while Denver was awash in bright sunlight or bathed

It continues to be gorgeous weather here in the Front Range and so we decided to go hiking with Will and Moses in the Foothills on Saturday, November 12th. We had heard of a little park called Lair o’ the Bear Park near Morrison in Jefferson County and began to drive that way. The drive

Distance: 12.44 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 2,974 ft. (net) Max. Elevation: 11,016 ft. Min. Elevation: 8,527 ft. Date hiked: November 6, 2016 The cool evenings and brisk winds of fall brought us crunchy leaves beneath our feet and colors of brown and beige, but the snows we are so accustomed to this time

We’ve driven by this unassuming peak on numerous occasions on our way up I-70 towards other mountains and adventures. Most of the time, we fail to even notice Sniktau as we focus our attention on 14ers, Gray and Torreys or lately, at the smattering of early season snow at Loveland. Nonetheless, Mount Sniktau is a ranked peak

Miles: 8.0 (out-and-back) Max Elevation: 11,000 ft Min Elevation: 9,473 ft. The weather was iffy this weekend, and we didn’t want to get ourselves stuck on a 14er during a thunderstorm; so we opted to head over to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and explore some lakes. The fact that we hadn’t been to RMNP

Miles: 10.8 (Out and Back) Total Elevation Gain: approx. 4,600 ft Net Elevation Gain: approx. 4450 The days continue to get shorter as we progress through the month of August. There is a sense of urgency in the air to attempt our final summer mountain summits before the sleet and snow replace the warm bright

This past Saturday, July 30th, we decided to break out the climbing helmets and scramble up a Colorado Peak. We were originally planning a Sunday climb of Kelso Ridge to the summit of Torrey’s Peak on Sunday with friends, but the weather forecast called for rain and thunderstorms all day. The forecast for Saturday predicted

Max Elevation: 14,003 ft. Min Elevation: 10,713 ft. Net Elevation Gain: 3,320 ft. Distance: 7 miles (out-and-back) Difficulty: Class 2 For the 4th of July weekend, we decided to head out with Will and Moses to the Sawatch Range and camp in the San Isabel National Forest with the goal of summiting Huron Peak early in

Will’s friend Julian came up from New Jersey and was excited about the prospect of getting into the Rockies. After talking about possibilities, Will and Julian decided they wanted to go camping on Guanella Pass and possibly climb Mount Bierstadt. We are always up for some camping and/or hiking, so we all packed our gear up and headed out

Min Elevation: 10,240 ft. Max Elevation: 11,465 ft. Net Elevation Gain: 1,225 ft. On day three, sadly the last day of our trip into the Sangre de Cristos, we finished out our adventure with a quick hike up to Music Pass. Music pass is a beautiful alpine pass on the east side of the range right

On day 2 of our exploration of the Sangre de Cristos, we made the journey from Westcliffe, CO to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. As the crow flies, the journey is a brief cross over the narrow portion of the range. However, no easily passable road exists to get to the East entrance of

Distance: 8.7 miles (out and back) Average Slope: 20% Max Slope: 42-45% Fourteener #15 Elevation Gain: 4,337 ft. (net) Max Elevation: 14,064 ft. Min. Elevation: 9,727 ft. Average Elevation: 11,755 ft. Close-up of our route on the east ridge on the left; and a view of the entire route up Humboldt.Legend has it that the “Sangre de Cristos” or the

6 miles out and back ( Elevation Gain: 2,135 ft. (total) Max Elevation: 9,945 ft. Min. Elevation: 11,907 ft. The leaves were already beginning to change the week before as we made our way to Mt. Flora and visited Rocky Mountain National Park. We felt the sense of urgency in the air as the cooler temperatures were settling into the

8.7 miles ( Elevation Gain: 2,356 ft. (total) Max Elevation: 13,146 ft. Min. Elevation: 11,334 ft. About two week ago on (September 12th) we drove up the long winding Hwy 40 towards Winter Park, CO. Instead of continuing on to the snow covered slopes as we were accustomed to in the cold winter months, we

Distance: 8.06 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 4,037 ft. (net) Max Elevation: 14,421 ft. Min. Elevation: 10,384 ft. 14er # 13 We drove once again into the land of the gentle giants a mere 6 days later to tackle our next objective in the Sawatch Range, Mount Massive. Massive stands majestically southwest of the little town of Leadville beckoning visitors

Distance: 12 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 5,649 ft. (total) Max Elevation: 14,005 ft. Min. Elevation: 10,311 ft. For years, rumors circulated that a natural cross could be found deep in the rugged back country of Colorado. Until photographer W.H. Jackson produced the famous photograph in his geographical survey expedition with F.V. Hayden in 1873, the existence of the beautiful religious

We decided to hike McCullough Gulch again, but this time with different company: Thomas’ Mom. Last year we hiked McCullough Gulch on a trip for Allyson’s birthday and the trip report can be found here: McCullough Gulch 2014. This year’s hike brought new adventures and excitement. The hike itself is roughly 2.7 miles RT to the

We’ve been to Rocky Mountain National Park many many times before, but have only explored a small fraction of what her 415 square miles have to offer. After a tough climb above 14,000 feet the prior weekend, we were craving some relaxing lower elevation exploration. And when we say lower elevation, we mean 8,000 to

During the late afternoon hours of July 23rd, we grabbed our camping gear and day hiking packs and loaded up the truck for an overnight adventure to complete the famous “DeCalibron”. The DeCalibron is a 7 mile, high altitude loop trail that allows hikers to tag the summit of three or four of Colorado’s

A week away from the summer solstice, we decided to try our luck with a mountain hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. The weather has been memorable to say the least this year in Colorado, and we weren’t entirely sure what to expect on the trail in early June. We arrived at Wild Basin’s summer

In the celebration of our 5th wedding anniversary this year, we placed an emphasis on our commitment to being healthy and fit together. Living in Colorado and sharing our posts with friends and family has helped motivate us to stay in shape and continue to push ourselves further. On the weekend of May 29th, we headed to sunny San Diego to

Distance: 4.0 miles (.89 mile up incline; 3.1 down Barr Trail ) Elevation Gain: 1,944 ft. (total) Max Elevation: 8,576 ft. Min. Elevation: 6,605 ft. Usually in early spring or winter, we are quite content leaving the task of ascending 2000 feet in just under a mile to the mechanical ski lift, which has been helping the masses ascend to the

Perhaps it was a our desire to breathe some fresh mountain air that brought us back to Mount Bierstadt this late September Sunday. Or maybe it filled a longing to see some of the early signs of fall in the form of brown and gold crackling under our feet. Undeniably, we couldn’t withhold the unfaltering

A few weeks ago (Sept. 12) with New Jersey and Texas friends alongside our usual gear in the truck, we made our way back to Breckenridge, a quaint but beloved town nestled in the Tenmile Range. Breckenridge is home to worldclass skiing, amazing hikes, and of course the famed 14er Quandary Peak of which we tackled

Distance: 9.38 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 4,314 ft. (total) 4,114 ft (net) Max Elevation: 14,209 ft. Min. Elevation: 10,095 ft. Winter is coming. And unlike Game of Thrones, it is actually approaching rather quickly, more so, in fact, than we would like. Having an extra day off this past Labor Day weekend, we planned one of our final summer ascents

To celebrate Will’s birthday, we ventured down to Colorado Springs last weekend to enjoy an exhilarating ride down Pikes Peak, a 14,000 foot monster of a mountain and Colorado icon. It was a fabulous day, full of speed, concentration and adrenaline. A leisurely ride up in the van with Bike Pikes Peak Tours granted us pain free

Interview with Terry Grosz Written by Thomas Checkley Terry Grosz is an award winning writer of 15 books and a legendary game warden. How we met and I ended up sitting on his porch interviewing him is a story unto itself. Last year I was in Bass Pro Shop here in Denver, Colorado, getting a headlamp

Distance: 10.6 miles (out and back and exploration) Elevation Gain: 2,367 ft (total gain) Max Elevation: 11,007 ft Min. Elevation: 9,224 ft The map on the left is our route from TH to Black Lake. The map on the right shows our route past Black Lake and displays relative locations of Green Lake and Frozen Lake with respect to the waterfall and

Distance: 11.2 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 4,335 ft (total gain) Max Elevation: 14,265 ft Min. Elevation: 11,473 ft We did Mount Bierstadt last year, that route is shown in green in the above Google Earth maps. The blue shows the new route we took to do the Bierstadt-Sawtooth-Evans combo. On the right is a closer look at the Bierstadt-Sawtooth-Evans

Distance: 8.52 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 3,640 ft (total gain) Max Elevation: 14,278 ft Min. Elevation: 11,225 ft A couple of factors made us get into the X-terra at midnight, drive out to the Grays-Torreys trail-head, and start hiking to the summits at 2 in the morning. For one thing, Grays and Torreys are argued to be

Distance: 2.8 miles (loop;out and back) Elevation Gain: 1,587 ft. (total) 1,467 ft. (net) Max Elevation: 12,615 ft. Min. Elevation: 11,148 ft. We decided to explore Breckenridge a little bit more after our Quandary expedition and headed over towards the base of Peak 8. On the way we found that the gondola was free (at least in the summer) and parked (again at a free

Distance: 6.84 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 3,364 ft (total) 3,371ft (net) Max Elevation: 14,265 ft Min. Elevation: 10,901 ft It felt as though we had only just closed our eyes when we were gently roused by the sounds of The Head and the Heart streaming out of the phone at 3:45 am on Saturday morning. To be honest, we were so excited

Distance: 9.03 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 2,097 (total) 1,984 (net) Max Elevation: 10,348 ft Min. Elevation: 8,364 ft This past Saturday we headed to one of our favorite spots in all of Colorado: Wild Basin in Rocky Mountain National Park. While most of the crowds head to Bear Lake or the Glacier Gorge in this

Distance: 8.41 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 2,965 (total) 2,920 (net) Max Elevation: 13,305 ft Min. Elevation: 10,385 ft On Saturday, June 7th we repeated a hike/climb to the top of 13er, James Peak. This was our first early season summit attempt, and despite all the remaining snow fields and subsequent route-finding, the hike was quite

We wanted to share with you a trip last month to the wonderful town of Estes Park including a stay at the iconic Stanley Hotel. Charmaine and Will came into town for the weekend, and we drove into the mountains together to attend the 2nd annual Stanley horror film festival and hike some of

To celebrate our four year anniversary, we decided to head down to the Baja Pennisula in Los Cabos, Mexico. We stayed at the Solmar Resort right on the Pacific side of the ocean. While the rip tides were too strong to go swimming in the Pacific, this didn’t hinder us. Our location turned out to

Last week I lost a very special person. Evelyn, my sweet granny said goodbye to us one last time. And as my heart breaks, I console myself with my precious memories. I am reminded of how blessed I am to have had 29 years with such an amazing person. Growing up, I can’t say with

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” — John Muir A few weekends ago, Will came to visit us for the first time since he moved away this summer to New Jersey. One of our favorite places to go with him while he was here in Colorado was Estes Park

Distance: 7.7 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 3,239 ft (total) 3,034 ft (net) Max Elevation: 14,274 ft Min. Elevation: 11,240 ft With summer gone for the year and thus the lingering darkness in the early morning hours, we opted for a 5:00 am wake up time instead of 3:30 am for our 2nd 14er climb. The forecast predicted a crisp, clear fall day

Distance: 2.55 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 1,314 ft (total) 978 ft (net) Max Elevation: 13,827 ft Min. Elevation: 12,849 ft This weekend was quite an adventure. Our friends Catherine and Steve were married and their wedding was in Pine, Colorado, which is just outside of Evergreen. Well, we noticed that Mount Evans was near the venue and decided we’d stop by on

Distance: 2.65 miles Elevation Gain: 401 ft Min Elevation: 9,976 ft Max Elevation: 10,267 ft This hike was done in mid-August. One or both of us had been sick for almost 2 weeks and thus we weren’t able to do much hiking for a bit. After we were both feeling better we decided to go

A few weeks ago, as part of our long journey to the wild southwestern side of the state, we took a ride on the famous Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. It’s somewhat of a Sandifer family tradition to travel to Durango and ride this all steam locomotive up to Silverton and way too many

Distance: 7.55 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 2,950 ft (total) 2,585 ft (net) Max Elevation: 14,057 ft Min. Elevation: 11,472 ft At 3:30am on September 8, 2013 we got out of bed, grabbed a quick breakfast and our gear, and headed out for our first 14er — Mt. Bierstadt. It was Allyson’s birthday and this was about as exciting an adventure as we

Distance: 7.44 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 3,148 ft (total) 2,431 ft (net) Max Elevation: 12,276 ft Min. Elevation: 9,845 ft This labor day weekend we ventured out of the Front Range to explore the rugged and wild San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. This area of the state still maintains a sense of old time tradition and reflects the mining days of past.

As we attempted to turn a hairpin and ascend up yet another switchback on the dusty dirt road, the car lurched into a deep rut, tilting the car and placing the passenger side closer to the ground than comfortable. We all cried out briefly before Thomas quickly regained control. And again, we asked ourselves “Why

Distance: 4.34 miles (lollipop; exploring) Elevation Gain: 1,264 ft (total) 950 ft (net) Max Elevation: 7,228 ft Min. Elevation: 6,278 ft “Keep Calm and Hike On” Hiking Aphorism While so many of our hikes have taken us into high elevation, critters of the slithering kind have been placed in the backs of our minds the last several months. Instead of watching our

Distance: 8.60 miles (out and back; spurs, exploring) Elevation Gain: 3,203 ft (total) 2,922 ft (net) Max Elevation: 13,312 ft Min. Elevation: 10,390 ft “Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing.” Barry Finlay, “Kilimanjaro and Beyond” While we visited St. Mary’s Glacier in early Spring, it was surrounded and covered in many feet of snow and difficult to

Distance: 10.02 miles (lollipop; spurs) Elevation Gain: 1,563 ft (net) 2,981 ft (total) Max Elevation: 10,798 ft Min. Elevation: 9,235 ft The weather predictions estimated a window of about 4 hours for which we would have a clear break from the pelting rain and thunderstorms that have blessed the region for the past several days. We set our alarms

Distance: 11.13 miles (out-and-back; spurs) Elevation Gain: 1,702 ft Max Elevation: 10,033 ft Min. Elevation: 8,517 ft For our Fourth of July celebration, we thought what better way to celebrate than by exploring a little bit more of the country on foot. Thus, early on Independence Day morning we awoke from our cool mountain slumber at Estes’s Park Discovery

Distance: 2.54 miles (out-and-back; spurs) Elevation Gain: 442 ft Max Elevation: 5,963 ft Min. Elevation: 6,366 ft This past weekend was a very rainy and thunderstorm filled weekend when Thomas’ mother came to visit us. Since she’s an elementary school teacher we thought this was an ideal time to check out Dinosaur Ridge and the Dakota Ridge Hike. The ‘hike’ is

Today, we are pleased to share a guest post from Will Sandifer about his recent trek into the miles and miles of dirt bike and jeep trails that run through the remote (maybe more crowded these days) backcountry of the San Juan Mountains near Durango, CO. Though we were not with him on this fantastic

Distance: 7.04 (Out and Back) Elevation Gain: 2,556 ft Max Elevation: 11,406 ft Min. Elevation: 9,168 ft “When preparing to climb a mountain, pack a light heart!” ~ Dan May Sometimes, our best laid plans do not materialize leaving us restless and discouraged. The original plan of the day was to visit Wild Basin in Rocky Mountain National

Distance: 4.22 miles (loops; spurs) Elevation Gain: 1,555 ft Max Elevation: 7,061 ft Min. Elevation: 6,022 ft “Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling” Margaret Lee Runbeck In addition to a swift trip down Clear Creek this weekend, we also managed to squeeze in a hike on Saturday morning near the lovely

Though not a walk in the traditional sense, one of our many excursions this weekend included a wild ride through class III, IV and IV+ rapids on Clear Creek in Idaho Springs Colorado. In honor of sibling Will’s graduation, we embarked this Sunday late morning on an advanced half day trip through the high, swift,

Distance: 6 miles (out and back), Elevation Gain: 1,331 ft Max Elevation: 11,439 ft, Min. Elevation: 10,354 ft A very special guest this weekend, my mom, inspired this hiking destination. Tales of her college trips and fun in the past led the three of us all the way to Summit County, past the Continental Divide into Breckenridge, CO. While

With the title of this entry you may be thinking ” Did they leave Colorado this time?” Perhaps they finally stole time away from post doc duties and work to venture to Alaska. However, you’d be incorrect! In fact, we were able to visit this natural wonder in Idaho Springs, CO approximately 1 hour from

During the late 1800s, as the city of Denver began to grow rapidly, farms and orchards near Franktown helped to supply the city’s growing demand for food. However, due to the lack of precipitation (17-20 inches per year) a narrow dam was built in Castlewood Canyon just below Lake Gulch and Cherry Creek to provide

Our hike this weekend took us back into Rocky Mountain National Park, this time to the trails traversing the peaceful remains of the long ago inhabited farms and ranches of Homestead Meadows. The hike seemed appropriate for Memorial Day Weekend, as its miles of trails explore Civil War era relics as well as early 1900s

Our trek today led us to splendid geological wonder, as we were greeted with sheer cliffs of bright red sandstone protruding like jagged knifes out of the ground as we entered the Garden of the Gods National Park in Colorado Springs, CO. While not a traditional “quest into the wild” as we are going for

Curiosity about the inaugural Stanley Film Festival led us to our next hike in Estes Park a little bit earlier than anticipated. We embarked on our journey around 11:00 am, this time with siblings and friends in tow and first made our way to the famous hotel (the location where the The Shining was set

“I take a walk..take a walk… take a walk…take a walk …ohhh…ohhhh” In accordance with the lyrics of Passion Pit’s latest catch, sometimes that’s all we really need to do. And so I begin in this inaugural post our quest to walk…..the plains in the rain shadow of the Rockies, the meadows with wildflower in

About

Contact Info This blog is maintained and written by Allyson and Thomas Checkley. All images and works are copyrighted and reproducing them without permission is forbidden. We maintain a Facebook page at Take A Walk CO and questions can be directed to us there or please contact tjcheckley@gmail.com with any questions or concerns. Disclaimer These trip

Plants of our Hikes

All of the many wondrous visions we have encountered have had some form of plant incorporated into it. These could be flowers, trees, ferns, weeds or even lichens; but regardless of what they are they all bring a certain color and personality to the picture we see before our eyes. This page identifies and describes

Points of Interest

After numerous hikes we began to want to compile a list of all the lakes, creeks, waterfalls, summits, and other wonders we have seen on the trail in one place so they are easy to find. Below is that list. It is divided into sections based on the type of landmark and then subdivided alphabetically.

8.7 miles ( Elevation Gain: 2,356 ft. (total) Max Elevation: 13,146 ft. Min. Elevation: 11,334 ft. About two week ago on (September 12th) we drove up the long winding Hwy 40 towards Winter Park, CO. Instead of continuing on to the snow covered slopes as we were accustomed to in the cold winter months, we

Distance: 8.06 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 4,037 ft. (net) Max Elevation: 14,421 ft. Min. Elevation: 10,384 ft. 14er # 13 We drove once again into the land of the gentle giants a mere 6 days later to tackle our next objective in the Sawatch Range, Mount Massive. Massive stands majestically southwest of the little town of Leadville beckoning visitors

Distance: 12 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 5,649 ft. (total) Max Elevation: 14,005 ft. Min. Elevation: 10,311 ft. For years, rumors circulated that a natural cross could be found deep in the rugged back country of Colorado. Until photographer W.H. Jackson produced the famous photograph in his geographical survey expedition with F.V. Hayden in 1873, the existence of the beautiful religious

We decided to hike McCullough Gulch again, but this time with different company: Thomas’ Mom. Last year we hiked McCullough Gulch on a trip for Allyson’s birthday and the trip report can be found here: McCullough Gulch 2014. This year’s hike brought new adventures and excitement. The hike itself is roughly 2.7 miles RT to the